Mind Games

Regionals are several days away and while I've been getting excited for them, I have one element on my mind that worries me.

Big games pump me up. The stiffer the competition, the more excited I get and the better I play. The game against Mischief was no different. I was looking forward to playing them ever since we beat their incomplete squad at DUI.

I went into the game ready to dominate. I was sprinting down every pull, staying on my mark's ass every second. Then on the second point that I was in the thrower called a foul on me. I felt that I was stationary and contested the call. After a little bit more arguing the play continued and they scored.

While on the sideline the thrower came up to me and started asking me why I like to cheat. Confused I asked if he was referring to the foul call. I felt that my call was right, but he just kept on going saying that the call labeled me a cheater. Now, I consider myself a relatively spirited player, so that felt like a low blow. To make matters worse, one of his teammates joined in and just started ragging on me while on the sideline.

I do not play well when I'm upset. And these two were upsetting me. As the game progressed, I slowly started playing worse and worse. I ended up taking myself out of the game. When my captain called lines I preferred to let others play in my place.

This really bothered me. I spent a lot of time mentally preparing for this game, and after a couple points of their players ragging on me from the sideline, I had lost my focus.

Regionals is coming up and I am excited by the stiff competition and the desire to perform for my team. But I am not looking forward to playing Mischief. The last thing I need is to have all my energy and focus fade away because some dick on the sideline spends all his spare time breaking me down. If you want to challenge me, challenge me on the field, not on the sideline.

Post Cal States

The Polar Bears just finished the weekend at Cal States. We came into the tournament seeded 1st and left with a 7th place that felt sour. We went 4-2 with both of our losses coming off of double game point. Two of our four wins also came on dgp, so needless to say, we were disappointed with our play. I'll summarize the weekend on my next post, this post is not for that.

I played poorly this weekend. I felt, as one of the potential anchors to our defense, that I did not play my best game. I pride myself in my defensive ability. I have a strong mark and I stick with my guy tightly. I can shut the best down and get lay out Ds on many as well. But I was unable to do that this weekend.

I arrived at home, drank a full glass of milk and then proceeded to do planks, side planks, leg raises, cycling situps and then topped it all off with 150 crunches and 60 pushups. I am pissed that I was not playing my top game. I love my team, I love my teammates. It is important to them that I give it my all in every tournament, just like it is important for me that they give me their all in every tournament. When I cannot complete this simple task, then I must work harder outside of practice to make it up to them.

I got beat on double game point by a mediocre LA Metro player on a shitty huck. Come next tournament, I will have worked harder than that Metro player. And the result will not be the same. Next time, I will get the D.

Polar Bear Core

This post was inspired by Bob's Meet the O-Line post (I would post the link, but Bob's blog is on a temporary hiatus) that was never finished.

While the Polar Bear roster isn't ironed out yet, there are a couple key players that will have no problem making the team. These players will be forming a strong backbone to the fearsome Polar Bear team.

Michael "Bob" Liu
A man who has been a solid handler for years and is now developing into a great in cutter as well. His defense is no longer the laughing matter that is used to be as he has added a strong mark to his repertoire. Bob is a great decision maker and has high quality throws regardless of wind, his level of exhaustion or the mark. Bob is one of the few throwers who rarely meets a mark he can't break. No one should ever cut open side for Bob. The break side is his baby.



Adam "Beanpole" Raty
A solid all around player who aims for big plays. Adam is not afraid to sacrifice his body for the team and will often come up with some huge grabs. Adam will often rip the disc looking for the big plays from his teammates, which sometimes results in more turnovers than scores, but his high quality throws often make up for his questionable decisions. A fearsome opponent and a strong asset to the Polar Bears provided he stays healthy.



Dan "Robot" Naruo
More machine than man... twisted and evil. Robot is arguably the best player on our team. I don't know anyone who works as hard as him to improve his game. He is always throwing, always sprinting always working to become a better ultimate player. Just like the god damn energizer bunny, Robot's batteries never run out. One of the best offensive cutters in open in the game (in my oh-so-humble opinion) he is truly a threat to deal with on offense. Robot is the one person on this team that I avoid guarding. He's the one player with whom I have to change my entire style of defense in order to accommodate his style of cutting.




Greg "Captain Sunshine" Marliave
The captain of the team and one of the main driving forces of our defense. The thing I like (especially as a D player) about Greg's D game, is that he doesn't need to get D's to be a good D player. Don't get me wrong, he gets D's and some very sexy ones at that, but Greg effectively shuts down a lot of cutters so that they will rarely even touch the disc. When players huck the disc to the guy Greg is guarding, it always looks like a bad decision. Greg's already in the right spot with the better position. Greg's awareness on defense is phenomenal. With athletic talent and aggressiveness to match it, it's a tough thing to get open on Greg



Anchi Tsou
When my younger sister still played ultimate, I would point out talented female ultimate players and say "Someday I want you to be able to play like her." Anchi is a perfect example of that. The other captain of the team and a woman who is not afraid to kick you in the head. Many women lack the aggressiveness of men in ultimate. It's a rare thing to find that woman who is unafraid to run full speed knowing you are heading into a collision in order to get the D. If Anchi is afraid, then she hides it well, because she is a fearsome defensive player. Anchi is a woman I trust to guard the opponent's star player. I don't think Anchi is afraid of anyone. She is a player I both respect and look up to.



Lisa Pitcaithley
17 years old for another 23 days and incredibly talented. Lisa is in incredible shape (rawr) and can run forever. She has the ability to sky men and women deep, beats her mark under and is incredibly smart with the disc. Lisa has the ability to make great snags catching blades and crazy fast throws without any hesitation. While Lisa rarely rips the disc deep, she is a solid all around player who can get that lay out D, cut both under and deep, break the mark effectively and run her opponents into the ground. Lisa is another great asset to the team.

Well, we'll stop there for now. After the roster is finalized I might do a little opinion column for some of the other Polar Bear Studs as well.

All pictures are courtesy of Christine over at http://christinelaszlo.zenfolio.com/